Cobalt oxide-carbon nanocatalysts with highly enhanced catalytic performance for the green synthesis of nitrogen heterocycles through the Friedländer condensation.

A novel series of eco-sustainable catalysts developed by supporting CoO nanoparticles on different carbon supports, highly efficient in the synthesis of quinolines and naphthyridines, through the Friedländer condensation, are reported for the first time. Textural properties, dispersion and location of the Co-phase are influenced by the nature of the carbon support, Co-precursor salt and metal loading, having a significant impact on the catalytic performance. Thus, the presence of the mesopores and macropores in carbon aerogels together with the homogeneous distribution of the active phase favours the formation of product 3a as a function of the metal loading. However, an increase in the metal content when using CNTs indicates the formation of CoO aggregates and an optimal concentration of 3 wt% CoO was observed, providing the highest conversion values. The carbon-based catalysts herein reported can be considered to be a sustainable alternative having advantages such as easy preparation, superior stability and notably enhanced catalytic performance, operating at lower temperature and under solvent-free conditions.

Imidazolium Sulfonates as Environmental-Friendly Catalytic Systems for the Synthesis of Biologically Active 2-Amino-4H-chromenes: Mechanistic Insights.

Ionic Liquids (ILs) are valuable reaction media extremely useful in industrial sustainable organic synthesis. We describe here the study on the multicomponent reaction (MCR) between salicylaldehyde (2) and ethyl cyanoacetate (3), catalyzed by imidazolium sulfonates, to form chromenes 1, a class of heterocyclic scaffolds exhibiting relevant biological activity. We have clarified the reaction mechanism by combining the experimental results with computational studies. The results reported herein suggest that both the imidazolium core and the sulfonate anions in the selected ILs are involved in the reaction course acting as hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, respectively. Contrarily to the most widely accepted mechanism through initial Knoevenagel condensation, the most favorable reaction pathway consists of an aldolic reaction between reagents followed by heterocyclization, subsequent dehydration, and, finally, the Michael addition of the second molecule of ethyl cyanoacetate (3) to yield the chromenes 1.